'Peace process to take good deal of time for meaningful agreement between Israel and Palestine' - expert

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Peace negotiators have submitted their written resignations to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee said Wednesday. Abbas said that his negotiators have resigned over the lack of progress in US-brokered talks with Israel and over Israeli settlement activity, Reuters news service reported. The Palestinian president reportedly has not yet decided whether to accept the resignations. The Voice of Russia spoke about the conflict with Kevin DeJesus, adjunct professor at Johnson and Wales University and Rhode Island College, in Providence, Rhode Islan, USA, who has formerly an intern at Gaza Community Mental Health Program in Gaza City, Palestine in 2000.

Do you think that a peaceful solution will be found in the near future?

I believe that the peace process is going to take a good deal of time further to both solidify and come to any meaningful agreement between Israel and Palestine. I don’t see this being a hasty process. We had the Palestinian negotiating team walk out of the peace negotiations just yesterday, so I believe we are going to see some delays and some serious hard work that’s going to need to take place over a good deal of time.

Could Israel and the United States recognize Palestine as an independent country and what should Palestine do for the recognition?

This is a very important question. The US and Israel largely respond to questions of policy, international and regional issues. They’ve done the Palestine question for a very long time. So in order for the United States and Israel to recognize the Palestinian state, that is going to happen on several contingencies. I can elaborate on these contingencies if you’d like. For the Palestinians in order to push forward what any political capital that would yield, international recognition of the Palestinian state including by the US and Israel they are going to need the steady hand of the European Union to ensure that the Palestinians can forge a viable, realisable state that enables the Palestinian people to experience not only the democratic process but also the capacity of a state which can facilitate their own development after a very long time of conflict and stagnation.

Is it possible that a new conflict could break out between Israel and the Arab states, especially now that Syria and Egypt are in difficult times?

It is unlikely that either Syria or Egypt would in fact initiate a conflict. The question regarding triggers for further conflict, whether a small-scale, low-level and short duration or more longer term, really hinges on non-state afters. Also Israel’s continual attacks on Syria. The Syrian government is unlikely to expand the conflict. However, the question of Hezbollah is always a very significant one. Continual provocative acts including the bombing of potential missile sites in Syria and continuous assassinations of pro-Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon itself certainly place Hezbollah in a very complex position. So I think we’ll be looking into the question of Hezbollah, Lebanon and Syria and also the question of conflict between Egypt is unlikely as it is always vary of the situation in the Sinai. However, the government of Egypt is certainly going to want to contain that and not provide any reasons for triggers for conflict and likely would continue to work in some level of cooperation with Israel to control the situation in the Sinai.

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